This simple photography mistake has the easiest fix – and Apple will soon warn you when you're about to ruin your photos

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In iOS 26, Apple will warn users of imminent blurry photo doom with a simple fix

A photo of the iPhone 16 Pro
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)

As a photographer I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to images, but Apple is about to warn users of a smartphone photography mistake with an easy fix: a dirty lens.

The beta version of iOS 26 has a new feature called Lens Cleaning Hints, which alerts users when the camera is too full of smudgy fingerprints and pocket lint to take a clear shot, and I’m hoping that a quick pop-up notification will rescue countless photos from imminent, blurry ruin.

A dirty lens wreaks havoc on photos, softening details and making everything look blurred. But unlike other solutions to common photography problems (like learning how to use manual mode or how to use a flash), a dirty lens has an easy fix – just wipe it off. (Ideally, with a microfiber cloth, but I won’t judge if you use the corner of your t-shirt.)

I once bought a lens protector for my iPhone, and then after a few weeks, I pulled my iPhone out and had a split second of panic when everything on the screen was a blurry mess. The culprit wasn’t an iPhone bug or a busted camera, though, just a broken lens protector.

The Lens Cleaning Hints uses AI to detect smudges in the photos and will then warn users when a dirty lens is about to wreak havoc on image quality. The feature can be toggled on by heading to Settings > Camera and toggling the option for Lens Cleaning Hints. (It can also be turned off if you find pop-up notifications annoying, or if you want to use a diffusion or soft focus filter over the lens.)

The feature, for now, is only on the beta version of iOS 26, but I hope the feature rolls out with the fully-fledged iOS, which will likely arrive sometime after Apple’s September launch event. The feature, however, looks like it's limited to the iPhone 15 and newer models for now, so it’s not going to prevent all the smudgy images from entering my feed.

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Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary K. Grigonis
US Editor

With more than a decade of experience writing about cameras and technology, Hillary K. Grigonis leads the US coverage for Digital Camera World. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Digital Trends, Pocket-lint, Rangefinder, The Phoblographer, and more. Her wedding and portrait photography favors a journalistic style. She’s a former Nikon shooter and a current Fujifilm user, but has tested a wide range of cameras and lenses across multiple brands. Hillary is also a licensed drone pilot.

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